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Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Upcycle!

Upcycling is a little different from recycling, but both are great ways to cut back on waste and trash and teach your child to reduce, reuse, or recycle things!

I keep a big box in my room, and we are constantly filling it with things to upcycle! Here are some things in my box right now:

tin cans

straws

bubble wrap

toilet paper rolls

paper towel rolls

sour cream carton

paper bags from the grocery store

plastic wrap

scrap cardboard - macaroni box, amazon box, pancake on a stick box

twisty ties from garbage bags {we don't use these on our bags, so I save them}

magazines

Here are some things I'll be looking to save:

old T-shirts

socks without a partner

broken toys {for parts}

Styrofoam

glass jars

plastic jars

ribbon and buttons

newspapers

printer paper {maybe paper that misprinted}

We use our "upcycle box" to create lots of handicrafts! We often use them with some other craft items to create something really neat.

One of the things my daughter made was a Tin Can Bird Feeder! It was really simple. She painted the tin can and then we hot glued some yard around the bottom and top. We filled it with birdseed and hung it in a tree! It was a fun craft, and we all enjoyed watching for birds.

If you look under the tab titled "Handicrafts" at the top of the page, it will take you to several different things we have created, all of them upcycling something!

I like to save things because it gives me such a good feeling to reuse them, even something as simple as a straw from a fountain drink! What sorts things do you save? What have you upcycled? Please, give me some more ideas!

4 comments:

We save random things too. The kids like when we get boxes with packing paper or sheets of cardboard that was just folded neatly and not crumpled in the box--then they get to use it for a fun art canvas!

So crafty! I love it. We've cut back a bit on saving only because I felt like I was drowning in supplies... but we have made milk carton butterflies, vinegar carton bookmarks, and right now we're saving up packing material, egg cartons, and shoe boxes in preparation for an egg drop experiment day.